1. Field of the Invention
This specification relates to a mobile terminal capable of cooling electronic devices positioned in a shield can.
2. Background of the Invention
Terminals may be generally classified as mobile/portable terminals or stationary terminals according to their mobility. Mobile terminals may also be classified as handheld terminals or vehicle mounted terminals according to whether or not a user can directly carry the terminal.
Mobile terminals have become increasingly more functional. Examples of such functions include data and voice communications, capturing images and video via a camera, recording audio, playing music files via a speaker system, and displaying images and video on a display. Some mobile terminals include additional functionality which supports game playing, while other terminals are configured as multimedia players. More recently, mobile terminals have been configured to receive broadcast and multicast signals which permit viewing of content such as videos and television programs. Various attempts have been made to implement complicated functions in such a multimedia device by means of hardware or software.
Recently, as the mobile terminal has a simple design and a small thickness, there is a difficulty in effectively cooling heat generated from a circuit board or an electronic device installed in the mobile terminal when the mobile terminal is operated. If such heat generated when the mobile terminal is operated is not rapidly cooled, the electronic device may have a degraded performance and a user's discomfort may be caused.
To solve such problems, a heat emitting material is positioned between the electronic device and a shield can, thereby cooling the electronic device by directly contacting the electronic device. Alternatively, a cooling fan is additionally installed to cool heat generated from the circuit board or the electronic device. However, it may be less efficient to cool the circuit board or the electronic device by such a heat emitting material. Further, it is difficult to obtain a space for installation of such an additional cooling fan, due to a small size of the mobile terminal. This may cause the mobile terminal to have a complicated structure.
Thus, required is a mobile terminal capable of having a simple structure by considering a characteristic of the mobile terminal of which orientation (a position or a direction) is changed as it is carried by a user, by making an electronic device or a circuit board installed in the mobile terminal directly contact a fluid, and capable of obtaining a cooling performance higher than that by natural convection.